I wasn’t knocking Ponting’s captaincy, just commenting that the Waugh era has long gone. Waugh was always attacking, even when he should have had a session or two on the defensive. That he won so much is impressive.
Hoggard was great today. He did more with the ball than all the other quicks in the game put together have so far. Hussey will curse himself for a late change of mind but Hoggard deserved his wicket.
Another who had a good day was the much-maligned Geraint Jones. He was terrific today. Better than didn’t make any mistakes. So far in this series he’s looked like he deserved his spot.
The fourth morning session is pivotal to the game. If Australia get through still five down it’s really open for either side to win. Australia upped its scoring rate a little after tea, so a couple of decent sessions and they’re up to England.
The fascinating thing to see is what England are prepared to do to have a chance at winning. Sure, they could (barring strange happenings) take an Australian win out of the equation. But that would be at the cost of making the draw much more likely. I’m sure part of them will be thinking that keeping it at 0-1 with a chance of 1-1 would be better than letting there be a chance of 0-2.
I heard Ian Healy talking earlier this Summer about Jones’s keeping when he played club cricket in Brisbane. Despite Ian Chappell’s mocking Healy insisted that Jones is a perfectly competent 'keeper.
I’m hearing the the Perth pitch isn’t likey to be the turner that people expect - so I wonder how that will colour Flintoff’s thinking. Is he prepared to risk losing this game in order to win it?
Isn’t it odd how a team that makes 6/551 seesm to be the one under all the pressure?
There has, for a long time, been this undercurrent of Aussie distaste and England policy of picking non-English born and raised players for their teams. I think thta informs a lot of the dislike here for Jones and Pietersen. They were seen as taking the easy option into test cricket. It’s just a thing, though. David Hookes said it all in the Centrenary Test with his famous mouthful to Tony Grieg. I’m sure the English used to pick on Clarrie Grimmett the same way
Currently I have him on a figure between 1,159 and 1,200. Does anyone have an accurate number?
He has some way to go before overtaking Mohammad Yousuf who recently clocked up 1788 test runs for 2006. This total in itself surpassed Viv Richards’ previous record of 1710 during 1976.
Nevertheless the guy is practically on fire at the moment. Congratulations to him.
Well, I may not be able to find any accurate data for Ponting’s achievements with the bat in 2006 but I have unearthed some far more interesting records.
These Womens’ Cricket Statistics are nothing less than fascinating. They add great value to the fund of cricketing knowledge already in the public domain. The most important records listed, in my opinion, are:
The Test is struggling to stay alive. England are 4/77, having had a bit of a wobble. Strauss was very unlucky to be given out caught off the pad. Bell ran himself out ballwatching. And Pieterson was bowled round his legs, off stump (!) by Warne. Fabulous ball, but bad cricket from Pieterson - don’t sweep Warne.
What does England have left? Will they go to Perth unchanged? Who will, or can, stand up for them now. What are they seeing when they look at themselves in the mirror tonight.
Today has been one of the great, glorious days in the history of Australian Cricket.
Great, glorious days? I’m surprised you’re not as embarrassed by it as we are. That’s the Ashes gone for sure, I don’t see England pulling back from two Tests down, even to draw the series.
After four days had seen only sixteen wickets go down, to lose nine in less than two sessions was inexcusable. One crook decision shouldn’t set up a rout.
Australia’s not embarrassed. Sure, a good series would be nice. But they hold the Ashes, so a 5-0 humilation with lots of careers ruined would be fine too.
Some observations about today and the portents for the rest of the series:
Hoggard can hold his head up high. He was fantastic and got done in the second dig by that rare beast, the decent Warne googly.
Flintoff and Collingwood come out mostly OK. The skipper played a bad shot, but tried his heart out with the ball. You had to feel for him when after five dots, the filed allowed a 7. Collingwood didn’t get out in the second innings but he failed to hurt Australia. England didn’t need that many more runs. Not looking like you were trying to score them was very bad. Still, a double century, red ink and a good catch isn’t bad.
Jones and Giles. Oh dear. Jones bats better than Read under pressure? Giles is useless on the fifth day on a turning track but worth it for his batting (return not much) and fielding (dropped a crucial catch)?
Anderson. Once again, didn’t show much.
Bell. Panicky. When you hit the ball in a controlled fashion behind the wicket, it’s the non-striker’s call. They teach you that in the under 13s.
Harmison. A bit better, but let’s face it, it’s going to be too late if he does come good.
Pieterson. A disgraceful last day. The shot was awful. The overthrows worse - they dissipated any semblance of English pressure. He’s just too far up himself. Doesn’t understand that so far he’s just a flash in the pan.
Hussey. I can’t recall an Australian player who has become so obviously a senior player so quickly. Utterly at ease at this level. Looks ravenously hungry.
Clarke and Clark. Both impressive. The pup shows signs of maturity, although still gets across too far early. Clark has earned his spot for a time.
McGrath. Unfit on a road in the first innings. A couple of pity wickets in the second. Will need to show something in Perth.
Ponting. In great nick. This victory will help his captaincy.
Martyn. Time to drop him. If Watson is fit for Perth, it’s curtains for his career. Gets himself out too often. Hussey’s elevation was pretty telling.
Warne. He just keeps doing it. Non-Indians fear him. The wrong 'un that got Hoggard may be the best I’ve seen him bowl.
Panesar. He was sitting in the dressing room and carrying out little drinkies to the batsmen. I never once saw a “what the fuck am I doing carrying the drinks” look on his face. He could’ve been forgiven a couple.
Les Burdett (the Adelaide groundsman). Had the last laugh. A good pitch is one that produces a result after tea on day five. The lesson of the last few years is that 550 in the first innings in Adelaide does not make you safe.
The rest of the series: England is going to have to find a way to bounce back. This loss is worse than Brisbane. The WACA has been a spinner’s pitch for a little while now, but the groundsman says the Test wicket’ll be less so. To me, that says that Australia should take Watson ahead of Martyn if he’s fit. And England should drop Giles for Panesar and Anderson for someone who can bowl.
A little bit of rain on cricket’s parade, yesterday, I think - despite Australia and Egland really writing a wonderful bit of history in the glorious annals of the game, the Pakistani Cricket Borad has to go and utterly befoul it whith their corrupt, self interested and probably politcally motivated overturniong of the bans on proven drug cheats Shoahib Akhtar and Mohammed Sami.
A disgusting, contemptible, pathetic decision. But what do you expect?
Not really that historic. The game that saw the Ashes given its name was the occasion for England to fail to make 32 to win with eight wickets in hand, although that was on a frightful batting wicket and so not really the same kind of spineless surrender as today’s. And we have been rolled over for 46 before. Even so, bending over and taking up the arse like that after declaring on 550 in the first innings represents something of a new low. England supporters die pretty damned hard, but that’s a bellyful to swallow and no mistake.
This is what I meant by “The lesson of the last few years is that 550 in the first innings in Adelaide does not make you safe.” Now that was a great series.
But it doesn’t happen often. According to CricInfo
Seriously, it’s goodbye to Marto with his rather surprising retirement today and hello to the big hitting Voges.
I can’t say I know to much about except he got a huge score against Queenland a little while back and can apparently wallop the ball almightily.
Martyn always seemed to be the odd man out in the Australian side, the lonliest of the players. It has to be aid that even despite his recent failings, he leaves behind a pretty spectacular career in two acts.
His glorious, annus mirabulus 2004 was almost enough to make me forgive him for being the man who quite unwarrantedly replaced Dean Jones!
The Aussie press this week has been making huge capital out of the rift, real or not, between Fetcher and Flintoff - in a suspiciously similar way that the English press beat up the lie about the rift between Warne and Ponting.
So bring on Perth and hopefully Voges and not Symonds in the team!
So the psych war has begun in earnest for the Perth test - my local paper had a full size back page photo of Andy Flintoff “breaking down in tears under the strain” and a story playing up the rifts in the England camp between Flintoff, Fletcher and Strauss.
Very little encouragment for England in their match on the weekend - Panesar 1/69, Harmison 1/99, Giles wicketless. The openers got some runs, but Giles and Jones, both batting up the order, scored 4 between them.
So, Australia need to win this one in three days to keep my prediction of a 13 day series alive!
